what's the right level???

[cr1m35c3n3 0]

I deposited $100 on pokerstars and I'm not sure what level I should start out at. My instinct says .25/.50. What does every one think?

[BetItAll33 0]

I deposited $100 on pokerstars and I'm not sure what level I should start out at.  My instinct says  .25/.50. What does every one think?

You should have 300 BB to play limit. At .25/.50 that would be $150. If you're a winning player, you might be able to get by with $100 at that level, because I assume the games are pretty soft.

[Smasharoo 0]

How long have you been playing?You'll get killed even at .20/.50 if you're new to this.A winning player could get by at .25/.50 with $100, but they'd need to be willing to deposit if they took some bad variance immediately.If the $100 is all you can deposit for a while, I'd grind up $50 more 5 tabling .05/.10 then move up. I've done it, it's not that hard.

[Governator 54]

Is this your first deposit online? Have you ever played online? Do you prefer tournies or cash games? Are you a 'winning' player?

[JSHamm 9]

the $100 would be 200x the .25/.50 BB so it sounds about right....for limit that is.

[Rounder 0]

If money is tight or this is your rent money don't even bother playing. You will be so worried about losing every dollar and won't play good poker.I don't get this 300xBB and 200xBB you guys are talking about. Do you mean as a bankroll or to actually bring to the table with you?I make most of my money at 15-30 and I only start with $500, this is only 33xBB.

[allinbluff35 0]

If money is tight or this is your rent money don't even bother playing.  You will be so worried about losing every dollar and won't play good poker.I don't get this 300xBB and 200xBB you guys are talking about.  Do you mean as a bankroll or to actually bring to the table with you?I make most of my money at 15-30 and I only start with $500, this is only 33xBB.

300xBB for your bankroll, 30xbb is what most people like to bring to the table.

[Smasharoo 0]

I don't get this 300xBB and 200xBB you guys are talking about. Do you mean as a bankroll or to actually bring to the table with you?Bankroll.Ths assumption being it's all the money you'll ever have to play poker, or alternately, that losing all of it would bother you signifigantly.

[Socrates 0]

the $100 would be 200x the .25/.50 BB so it sounds about right....for limit that is.

It's not right, unless of course you're a better player than all of the preofessional players that established the requirements.

[JSHamm 9]

the $100 would be 200x the .25/.50 BB so it sounds about right....for limit that is.

It's not right, unless of course you're a better player than all of the preofessional players that established the requirements.

lol..of course not...the 200X banroll needed is just the typical response I've seen throughout the myriad of "bankroll management" posts. Although lately I've started seeing the 300X more and more (player skill dependent)

[Smasharoo 0]

Although lately I've started seeing the 300X more and more (player skill dependent)300's just a reasonable arbitrary number for someone winning 2BB/100 in a standard ten handed limit holdem game based upon standard deviations from that win rate.Better games, ironically have higher win rates *and* variacne, so bankroll requirements don't vary that much really.You could aruge 200 is fine, and it will be most of the time, but 300 is pretty safe. If you have a 300BB downswing sustained to the point of going broke in a ten handed holdem game it's exceptionally unlikely you're beating the game.

[BetItAll33 0]

Here are some statistics constructed using a confidence interval for a player with an "average" standard deviation.With the given bankroll and win rates, here is the percent chance that you will go broke over the "very" long term:

[cr1m35c3n3 0]

originally i began playing at party poker with a deposite of $50. Grinded out low limits till i got to $250 cashed out $200 and lost the last $50. I'm starting up again $100 was an amount i could feel comfortable with win or lose. Thanks for the advice so far.

[bdc30 0]

There's something about these threads that bothers me...The cardinal "300x BB rule" that is so often talked about is so interpretive that I don't think it can be used in this case.So the guy only has $100 that he deposited now, which wouldput him in the .10/.25 game, if the forum rule applied.Now, the guy didn't say "all the money in the world that I have to play poker with is $100", he just said he deposited that much.The way it was taught to me is that you should be playinga limit that's low enough for you to manage, and be willingand able to withstand a loss of a couple of buy-ins, but at thesame time, where the amount of money is high enough to have some type of real value to you.If the guy starts playing .05/.10, and loses, as he will probably will, the money won't much matter to the guy, as his lossesover a few sessions will likely be in the $5-$10 range..10/.25 is a little more reasonable, especially if he's newerto poker online, and trying to gain some experience.If the guy wants to play .25/.50, and has some experience withplaying online, and is smart enough to read posts from strat, etc,I think that is fine. He just has to realize that he's gotta be willingto re-deposit if things don't start out going his way.thoughts/flames/etc?

[BetItAll33 0]

The assumption being it's all the money you'll ever have to play poker, or alternately, that losing all of it would bother you significantly.

[Smasharoo 0]

The way it was taught to me is that you should be playinga limit that's low enough for you to manage, and be willingand able to withstand a loss of a couple of buy-ins, but at thesame time, where the amount of money is high enough to havesome type of real value to you. If you think in terms of money as opposed to bets, you're playing the wrong game.The amount of money has to be meaningless to you. Only winning bets matters.

[bdc30 0]

If you think in terms of money as opposed to bets, you're playing the wrong game.The amount of money has to be meaningless to you.  Only winning bets matters.

C'mon, at the end of the day this game is ALL about money.Since you seem to like Knish, I'll use what he said in the movie:"I play for MONEY. I owe rent, alimony, child support."He doesn't say he plays to win bets.

[creepy20 0]

Start out at the .25/.50 games..if variance starts kicking your ass and you are down 50 bucks then sit down in the .05/.10 game...if you can't beat those limits then don't even attempt to move up until you can. I had only 5 bucks on UB and wasn't going to deposit anymore, I played .05/.10 and worked it up to 45 dollars in about 3 weeks 4 tabling playing about an hour or more a day..sometimes more on weekends...then I jumped to .25/.50 because I wanted to kill myself at the other level...i'm up to 105 now and if variance doesn't kick in and I have something like a 100bb downswing then i'll stay at this level until I reach 250..then I'll make the next jump. also if you get the chance do instant bankroll w/ www.pokersourceonline.com ..good way to double your br.

[TheMathProf 0]

PokerStars, which is where the OP deposited, doesn't have a .10/.25 limit game. It's .05/.10 or .25/.50 there.As a .25/.50 player on Stars, if you're relatively new to the game, I would start out at the .05/.10 to get a feel for the interface, the players, and the action. If you feel like you're an easily winning player at the .05/.10 (get numbers to verify this), then feel free to move up.If your bankroll is $100, and you're not willing to further deposit, I would recommend staying there until you hit $150. (Of course, if you're an easily winning player, this shouldn't take too long.) I made the jump too early before I was properly bankrolled, and at one point, where I was bankrolled at $100, I had this downswing of 150 BB (down to $25). It probably should have been less (i.e. I probably should have dropped a limit), but there's this tremendous ego that I have that didn't want to let me move down to .05/.10 to rebuild. This is coming from someone who tends to beat the .25/.50 Limit games for just under 4 BB/100.The good news was that I had my bankroll back at the .05/.10 to the $100 (I'm painfully stubborn sometimes) within two weeks.If, on the other hand, you are only depositing $100, but are willing to deposit more with a bad run, then you could probably go to the .25/.50 tables as soon as you feel comfortable with the interface.Just my two quid.

[BetItAll33 0]

If you think in terms of money as opposed to bets, you're playing the wrong game.The amount of money has to be meaningless to you.  Only winning bets matters.

C'mon, at the end of the day this game is ALL about money.Since you seem to like Knish, I'll use what he said in the movie:"I play for MONEY. I owe rent, alimony, child support."He doesn't say he plays to win bets.

Here's an excerpt from one of Danny's columns:I recently read a column in Card Player written by Warren Karp. In it, he explains that when playing tournament poker, you should think in terms of “dollar for dollar.” When faced with a bet of $20,000 in a tournament, you should consider how much $20,000 means to you. He goes on to say, when pondering a bet, “Is this hand worth the cost of a kitchen upgrade? Can this hand win me the cost of a car?” and so on.Well, if you’ve read Super/System — the book written by Doyle Brunson that is considered to be the bible of poker — you’ve gotten an alternate view. And it’s one with which I tend to agree. In Doyle’s book, he explains how it’s important not to think about the money involved when making decisions. He goes on to explain that it’s important to just go ahead and make the best decision you possibly can, based on the information you’ve obtained about the hand you are playing, with no fear.I think I'll go with Doyle, Danny, and Smash on this one.

[bdc30 0]

Now hang on...I never said to think of your bets in terms of "wow, this is a car payment, or kitchen, or whatever"I just stated that the game of poker, inherently isabout money.If that weren't true, we'd all still be content tosit at the play money tables, because after allwe'd be winning lots of bets.Don't know about anyone else, but the play moneytables got pretty tired, pretty fast for me....You're confusing the point I'm trying to make...

[HtotheNootch 0]

I would be in significantly better shape bankroll wise, if I had followed the 300BB rule. Too many times, I was playing .50/1.00 on $100 or 1/2 on 200 hundred and it cost me.These days, I'm a little more conservative even than 300, and I'm watching my bankroll grow nicely.

[BetItAll33 0]

Now hang on...I never said to think of your bets in terms of  "wow, this is a car payment, or kitchen, or whatever"I just stated that the game of poker, inherently isabout money.If that weren't true, we'd all still be content tosit at the play money tables, because after allwe'd be winning lots of bets.Don't know about anyone else, but the play moneytables got pretty tired, pretty fast for me....You're confusing the point I'm trying to make...

Actually, I think you're confusing the point that Smash made. You said that you should play at a level that is manageable, where you can afford to lose, yet the money is meaningful to you. I think this is the wrong approach.If you're taking the "how much can I afford to lose" approach, you're just a gambler.I think you should establish a bankroll, choose a limit based on the 300 BB rule, and make the best decisions y0u can at the table without regards for the money involved.

[bdc30 0]

lol, dude I think we're both on the same page on this topicwe just can't seem to get our heads together.I agree with what you're saying about not lettingthe amount of money factor into the way you play, and the decisions you make and all that stuff.If this guy wants to play .25/.50, and has the bankrollto back it up (or the willingness to redeposit) then he should do that.My basic point was that the 300x bankroll rule shouldn't always be the amount that you have on any particularsite at a given time, but the amount of money you have set aside as your poker roll.The most entertaining thread on this was the one started up a few days ago where the OP talked about the cost ofa 12-pack of Coke. Inherently, as poker players, therehas to be some kind of mental disconnect where it stillirks us to pay $3.99 for 12 pops, but at the same time, wethink nothing of making a $20 bluff-raise on the riverholding only J-high.

[BetItAll33 0]

Fair enough. Sounds like we're on the same page then. I still have some trouble with that "disconnect" sometimes. I have a decent job and I could probably afford to take some lumps at 2/4 or 3/6, but the money is a little too "real" to me right now.